ABT's New Harlem Base

American Ballet Theatre is heading up to Harlem. The company just announced a new partnership with the Harlem School of the Arts. Starting this fall, all HSA dance faculty members will be trained in ABT’s National Training Curriculum. JKO principal Franco De Vita will serve as an advisor and conduct master classes at the school throughout the year. The new ballet curriculum will be added to HSA’s current classes in jazz, tap, modern, African and hip hop.

Congrats to both institutions! HSA actively reaches out to students in underserved communities, and this new partnership offers a way to introduce those kids to some seriously good ballet training. It’s just one small, but smart step to improving the diversity of our field—hopefully we’ll see more moves like it soon.